Islands: fine burgers and drinks? New additions on the menu

To be honest, I haven’t eaten at Islands Restaurant for a while. I had always liked to hang out with friends for lunch at the La Jolla location between classes when I was in UCSD. I mean, their burgers are great and prices are reasonable, and they got a great atmosphere there to chill. I was pretty excited when we got an invite to try out their new menu items.

I’m so glad that I’m coming back to the La Jolla location. This is the bar area, which I’ve never been to, cause I always had lunch. It’s nice that they try to incorporate the beachy and Hawaiian style in the decor.

Getting started, there are 3 new drinks. This is the Jäger Bay(Jägermeister, Coconut Rum & pineapple juice). Surprisingly, it does not taste strong, but you taste the sweetness and flavor of coconut and pineapple. If you love both pineapples and alcohol, this is the drink to go for.

This is Maker’s Wedge (Maker’s Mark, Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur, pineapple juice, freshly squeezed lime juice & agave). I also like this one, because it has a little spice from the ginger liqueur, while also balancing with pineapple, lime and agave. They said that if you like Whiskey(Maker’s Mark), you would like this one. Apparently, another girl said that she actually doesn’t like Whiskey, but she likes this drink. Definitely an interesting try.

This pretty one is the Paradise’s Mai Tai (Bacardi Superior Rum, Myers’s Rum, fresh squeezed lime juice & a special Islands tropical mix) with only 149 Calories. It’s more of a ladies’ drink (or if you prefer tropical fruit taste and lower calories). One sip of it is full of fruity taste, and the color of the drink is summery.

These are 3 new drinks that just been out for 2 weeks. They are all (from the menu:) “Strong Enough to Knock Your Flip Flops Off”, while they don’t taste too intoxicating.

A little break from drinks, introducing the new Point Break Sliders for Happy Hour. Okay, so it’s not completely new. It was kind of the smaller version of the Point Break burger. Well, I have never had the Point Break burger before, but these guys immediately caught my heart. Look at the bun! It was doughy soft, yet they grilled the other side a little to make it crisp.

Inside are the Gruyère and bleu cheeses, bacon and onion relish, and different from the burger, they have lettuce and tomatoes on the side. I actually like it just like that without the veggies. It was spot on period. The size was just right for me, because I think if it was a burger size, it would be too much and heavy for me. Sliders work perfectly.Point Break Sliders will be available in September, but only for a limited time, so make sure you grab them before they are gone.

As we were chatting with Tim Perreira, Islands Vice President of Food and Beverage, he told us that to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Islands, they worked with Karl Strauss to make this limited edition beer. It’s called the Freedom Belle. It was light, sweet and has a nice spice to it with a little orange zest. It’s good quality beer. If you like a lighter drink, go for the Freedom Belle (& it’s also only available for a limited time). The handcrafted beers at Islands actually have guaranteed quality and taste, since they work with various breweries like Karl Strauss and Stone to brew their beers.

The Islands staff had us sat at the bar area to get a feel of the happy hour, then when it hit dinner time, they brought us to the dining area. It was nice to sit at the table, and I remembered very clearly that me and my friends once sat at the same table for lunch.

Because healthy diet has became popular awareness, Islands bring in this new Beach Bowl with low calories. It is a bowl of brown rice topped with fresh grilled pineapple, red bell peppers, snow peas, water chestnuts, red onion, broccoli & diced scallions in a hoisin sauce, and you can either choose Chicken (576 Cal) or Mahi mahi (560 Cal) to go with the bowl. I chose the Mahi mahi. It was a tasty bowl with vivid flavors from the veggies. The grilled pineapple gave a nice enhancement for the bowl. It was juicy and tropical. The Mahi mahi was not the best that I expected it would be, as it was a little on the dry side, though I may be having a higher standard on seafood than the others given my seafood heavy background.

Though most of us were stuffed by this point from the eating and drinking, we still couldn’t resist to have desserts. I never knew that they have individual sized portion of desserts, so I ordered the Fudge Brownie. Nom nom, I always love the combination of warm brownie and cold ice cream.

Overall, it was a satisfying meal, and it was great to explore their menu and try new items. Their menu is full of indeed FINE food and drinks with reasonably priced items. In addition, I am sure all the bloggers and guests who attended this event have experienced tremendous hospitality from the Islands staff and marketing team. I would like to thank Jenny from Murphy O’Brien Public Relations for inviting us, and Islands for hosting this event for us.

Yes, I love to eat. Enjoying food is a blessed experience; it brings people together, and helps create many beautiful memories (and even bad ones). Born and raised in Hong Kong, under the East meets West culture, a picky taste bud is in the blood. I have only been in San Diego for 3 years, and honestly there’s still a lot that I haven’t explored and tried. I hope to gain the most out of it before I leave the country by being a part of SDF.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

[…] San Diego Food maintains that the beach bowls were added to the Islands menu in order to make the restaurant more friendly to health-conscious diners. That makes sense, given that the menu has long been dominated by calorie- and fat-laden burgers. The beach bowls are decidedly less heavy in terms of both calories and fat. […]

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